Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna

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Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna (b. June 20, 1970, Milford, Connecticut) is an American music and entertainment journalist and author who has worked for People, Us Weekly, Teen People, Spin, Billboard and others. She is author of the book Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-by-Day Chronicle (Carlton Books) and is currently working on her second book “CHERRY BOMB: The ultimate guide to becoming a better flirt, a tougher chick, a hotter girlfriend, and living life like a rock star.”

Contents

[edit] Background

Borzillo-Vrenna has been an entertainment journalist since age 18 when she wrote about unknown rock bands for free music magazines in her home state of Connecticut. She got her first big break at age 19 when she was asked to profile the Black Crowes for the rocker’s then favorite magazine, Hit Parader. In the 20 years to follow, she has held prestigious positions at a variety of music and entertainment magazines, most recently at People magazine.

With a Bachelor Degree in Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University in hand, at age 21, the go-getter landed a job at Billboard magazine as a radio columnist before quickly moving up to Heatseekers Features Editor where she covered up-and-coming acts.

During the first dotcom craze of the mid ‘90s, she served as Managing Editor/News for the daily music news website, allstarnews.com, which was part of CDNOW.com. There, she also penned the music news gossip column Miss Truth. The New York Times called her column, “Liz Smith for Generation Y,” and BAM named her one of the Most Influential Californians in the music industry.

The Wallingford, Connecticut native also authored the book, Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-by-Day Chronicle, for Carlton Books in 2000. Carlton re-issued the book in an expanded version in 2003 as Nirvana: The Day to Day Illustrated Journals.

She has also penned music articles and news items for Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, and others. But, one of her favorite gigs was her stint as Dr. Love for Gene Simmons’ short-lived glossy monthly, Tongue. She dispersed love and sex advice for every issue of the magazine.

As a music expert, she has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, E!, VH1 and other television outlets. In 1998, she was named one of the most influential Californians in the music industry and won a Music Journalism Award for her daily breaking news at allstarnews.com. And, while we’re bragging, Joey Ramone once emailed her these words of encouragement at allstar – “Rock on with your bad self.” Yes, she has framed that email.

Borzillo-Vrenna spent the next few years expanding beyond music journalism and into the competitive world of weekly celebrity journalism. She freelanced for Us Weekly and Teen People before being pursued for a full time job at People magazine where she handled the “American Idol” beat and wrote and/or reported celebrity features.

[edit] Current

In June 2007, she signed on with literary agent Holly Root of NY-based Waxman Literary Agency [1] who sold her newest book, "CHERRY BOMB: The ultimate guide to becoming a better flirt, a tougher chick, a hotter girlfriend, and living life like a rock star,” to Simon & Schuster’s Simon Spotlight Entertainment. The book, edited by Emily Westlake, is in bookstores Aug. 5, 2008.

[edit] Personal Life

She lives in Los Angeles with her Grammy Award-winning husband Chris Vrenna, who has worked with everyone from Nine Inch Nails to U2 to Gnarls Barkley. He is currently on tour as keyboardist for Marilyn Manson.

[edit] Bibliography

Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-By-Day Chronicle, Author Nirvana: The Day to Day Illustrated Journals, Author Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times and Music of Green Day, Contributor (Author is Marc Spitz)

References:

  • Ken Phillips Publicity [2]
  • Carlton Books [3]
  • Nirvana Club [5]

External Links

  • Official MySpace Page [6]
  • Official tweaker website [7]
  • Simon & Schuster [8]
  • Waxman Literary Agency [9]